sheeponacid

Red Dwarf 
Champion the wonder horse
Match of the day
Monkees 
Tales of the unexpected 
 

Hello again,
I had a great afternoon yesterday at Pride Park, obviously helped by the outcome. Absolutely brilliant support, underlined by the fact that a Premier League fixture down the road had a lower attendance, even with the decent following that the West Midlands sent over. Decent noise throughout the game too, Pride Park seems to work well with the crowd sound and atmosphere - some of the new stadiums get this wrong. I don't think anybody has managed to emulate atmosphere from the old stadiums that were touched by the hand of Archibald Leitch but Pride Park certainly has most of it and, of course, the people component. 
As for the game, it seemed to me that there looked to be a division between the two sides. I felt that the club, city and fan base seemed to be out of place at L1 level. 
Back soon.

The hardest step is always the first.
My journey started back in 1981 - as a recently married young man of 24, who had gradually been putting on weight over the preceeding couple of years following a knee injury playing local league football - requiring several weeks rehab, after which i never really got back into football - instead being a heavy smoker (40+ per day) who became the proverbial couch potato.
Long story short, after several months i vowed to stop smoking, and my first step was to try jogging - a 2 mile out and back route - which nearly killed me.
But on the basis of taking no smoking 1 day at a time - i persevered and gradually started to enjoy it. Fast forward a year or 2  i joined a running club (shelton striders) , and started entering the occasional race and running with others on club nights - which was great personal motivation.
It also turned out i was quite decent at this running lark, and progress was being made. Coming across the running term PB's (personal bests), was like a red rag to a bull and over the years  ran to a level that led to qualification for the Derbyshire team for the Inter Counties Cross country a few times in the early 1990s (via a top 10 finish in the Derbyshire cross country championships).
Also once competed in the great north run (1988) and finished in the top 200.
Competed pretty much until 1998, when chronic OA of the knees forced retirement from competition - very soon after my last competitive race - as part of the Derby & County AC Vets team that finished 5th in that years National Vets 8 stage road race relays in Aldershot.
Even then its nor been the end of the story. I can no longer run (indoors or out), but am now a member at Springwood Gym Oakwood,and have been for the last 20+ years - which is a really friendly and welcoming place, and great value.
The adrenaline buzz from an aerobic cardio workout, is till a great lift and boost - and keeps me coming back for more.
Even now, as a 67 year old OAP , i can be found in the gym most days and concentrate mainly on aerobic / cardio workouts such as
Stairmaster Stepper - 1500-2300 steps - (5-6 days per week) in 16-22 mins at 98-99 steps per minute - 2200 steps is approx the number of steps at the World Trade Center in NY +
Xtrainer - 2.25-3.5 miles - (5-6 days per week) in 15-24 mins - in intervals of 1 min build/recovery 4 mins at twice the power of the recovery +
Concept 2 Rower - 1-2.5miles (5-6 days per week) - at 7 mins 15 secs per mile +
Stationary bike (Watt bike or Keiser) - 3-4 miles (3 times per week) at 3.15 per mile plus 2-3 spin classes per week (12.5-13.5 miles per class in 45 mins) +
These days as i still work part time, i have 3 x shorter gym days (60 mins) + 3 x longer ones (95 mins and which include the spin classes).
Compared to many i may overdo it - but it does give a great boost to mental health, as well as physical wellbeing. The 
Just start gradually and try to get into a routine. Common problems that people face - particularly with jogging / running - is that they always start too fast , simply because they think they are going too slow. It always takes your heart several minutes (upto 10) before it gets used to what the body is demanding of it - so go as slow as you need to to get past that 10 minute mark - i guarantee that once you can do that, you get into rhythm that can actually feel quite enjoyable and which gets those endorphins flowing through your system.

Think Portsmouth and Derby going up is the best result judging the season as a whole. Both too big for this league anymore. Hopefully the draw we gave Bolton today (tbh they could be right to feel bad not to take all three points) will be enough to get you guys over the line. 
 
Good result for you guys. Hopefully see you in the championship next season. 

My wife giving lollies to the local children. Five dollars gone in 30 seconds, but despite everything they all looked so happy. 

Red Dwarf 
Champion the wonder horse
Match of the day
Monkees 
Tales of the unexpected 
 

Red Dwarf 
Champion the wonder horse
Match of the day
Monkees 
Tales of the unexpected 
 

Red Dwarf 
Champion the wonder horse
Match of the day
Monkees 
Tales of the unexpected 
 

Such anniversaries are never great mate.  We just have to soldier on, I guess.
Not long passed both my parents birthdays (late Jan & early Feb), and whilst it does technically "get easier" as the years go by, the fade is admittedly minimal, and it still smarts over 4 decades later (Yeah, they both failed to reach their 50's!)
Personally, I go for a little nod towards "a birthday celebration", be that a short-sharp happy memory, a raised glass, or even a cheery wave skywards (if nobody's looking!).  It doesn't do to dwell on the negatives, but I appreciate that can sometimes be easier said than done.
Hang on in there buddy... and give the wave a try to the (not-so) old man, on his birthday!  🍻

A mention to Sibley, a shaky first 10/15 but after that he did very well against one of the best wingers in the league. 

Hope you good people make it back .✊

Chesterfield are already promoted which should restore at least one to the list. They were crowned champions last week with 5 games to go, are on course for over 100 pts and have scored over 100 goals, a remarkable achievement that seems to have slipped largely under the radar since the National League returned to obscurity after the promotion of Hollywood fc last season.

Wonderful.
I've got my own ecosystem going at the moment in solid form.
Last October, at the end of the chili growing season, I took 3 established first-year plants (2 x Scotch Bonnet and 1 x Armageddon) and pruned them savagely (think main stem up to where it divides into 2 branches, then each of those to where they divided, and chopped everything else out - so basically all that was left was 4 sticks attached to a main stem). I then reduced the size of the root balls and re-potted into smaller pots using fresh peat-free compost. I brought the plants indoors and stuck them in a South-facing window.
The idea was to give them a 'rest' over winter, and for them to have a head start when April arrives and I move them outside (it's only the second time I've tried over-wintering - most people think that chili plants are annuals but they're not - they are just very susceptible to frost). The plants were watered very sparingly once a fortnight, and I expected little or no growth for the next 4 months.
Things did not go to plan.
By Christmas, I had green shoots appearing, not just at the nodes of the branches, but even new shoots growing from the main stems.
By January, a few flowers were beginning to appear, so I pulled them off the plants - but obviously I missed a few.
By February, I had a few chilis beginning to show, so I stepped up the watering regime and added a capful of tomato feed to the water. Then I started to notice tiny flies taking to the air each time I watered. A quick check under the microscope and t'interwebs revealed Bradysia - sciarid flies or fungus gnats, which infest decomposing plant matter (basically potting compost).
War was declared.
At the start of this month, I ordered a pack of sciarid fly nematodes - basically tiny worms which feed on the maggots of the sciarid flies. In the meantime, I stuck a 20 cm square of bright yellow fly paper to the window by the chili plants (fungus gnats are attracted to yellow). Within hours, there were dozens of sciarid flies stuck to the paper. By the time the nematodes had arrived a couple of days later, there were hundreds - perhaps thousands. We treated all the house plants - not just my chilis.
A week after treatment, I was on top of the problem - still seeing the odd fly but nothing like previously.
Last week, I administered a second round of treatment and changed fly paper.
Today, no more flies. I've also harvested two Scotch Bonnet chilis which are destined for my next curry.

Devil dog aka Milo haha

It’s a hard week. Daniel’s brick is being laid at PP this week. Daniel loved owls, so I bought a small owl ornament for the brick. Trying to distract myself with work but it’s hard 

So disappointing to see the Work & Pensions Secretary Mel Stride saying that the de-stigmatisation of mental health issues has gone “too far” and that we should just consider it the “normal ups and downs of human life”
I'm pretty sure that most people who have contributed to this thread have had their mental health struggles and found that it's the de-stigmatisation of mental health issues which has allowed them to open up - and that's a brilliant thing. None of us are alone
It disgusts me that we have dinosaurs like this in positions of power who think we should  go back to the days of telling people to "just get over it" 😞

Driving to Perranporth Beach on Sunday. 

Best season we have had in a bloody long time , ground was full to the ginnells Saturday with most staying long after the whistle to celebrate and leaving extremely happy , I was surrounded by singing all the way back to the car , seen some great goals scored and seen some not so great performances in games at times over a long season , if we get promoted this season will live long in the memory of this old boy who’s seen the great times and the lowest of lows ,it will live long as the warne promotion season that I really enjoyed ,
simple fact is we have one or two posters who are intent on rubbishing anything achieved and winding people up trying to stop them enjoying all the good stuff that’s happening for our club and us fans,
honestly ? Just stick them on ignore or read there stuff , see it for what it is , laugh and move on without replying and giving them the pleasure of winding you up ,
it really is that simple 🤷🏻‍♂️
 

Does it have to be a choice?  For me it is both art and vandalism.  The thing about art is that it's left to opinion, saying this is art but that isn't is missing the point of art.  If one feels that something is art, then for that person it is art, if enough people consider some work art, then it is popular art.  It is the effect that is the art.

Get in great win…

Get in great win…

People dropping litter on the floor.
I just want to say would you drop litter on the floor in your own home.
 
 

OK its a small club in National League South, but for over a hundred years Torquay United has been a stalwart of the the English leagues and now it is in administration and the future looks very bleak.
I'm a Devonian by birth and Torquay was my club, difficult to reach in the 50's/60's from where I lived and Dad had no car. I loved the games and my favourite memory was watching them play Spurs in an FA cup game in 65 that ended 3-3. I watched from halfway up the floodlight pylon. I was 14 years old then. A copper below me told me to get down, gave up, then said if I fell down it'd better not be on him!
Torquay also pioneered Friday evening games due to so many fans being involved in hospitality and Saturday was change over day for tourists. For many years they had the lowest debt ratio of any professional team in England but a gentle slide down to non league ensued and now the current owner has walked.
I feel for the 1700 regular fans (2nd best in that league!).

Another Sunday art attack. I’m inflicting this one on my uncle as a birthday present 😂